From the Daily Herald:
Request for recount in District 46 election

By Michael Wamble and Robert Sanchez
Daily Herald Staff Writers

Democrat Joe Vosicky requested a recount Monday in his losing bid to replace Lee Daniels in the Illinois General Assembly’s 46th House District.

Vosicky said problems with voting machine computer chips and other possible irregularities surrounding the Nov. 7 election led him to make the request.

Four weeks after the election, the margin between Vosicky and apparent Republican winner Dennis Reboletti, both of Elmhurst, is about 300 votes, with Vosicky at 13,183 and Reboletti at 13,482.

“In a district that is traditionally a Republican stronghold, the people went out of their way when they voted for me,” Vosicky said Monday. “In order to protect the integrity of the election and the people who voted for me, it is appropriate to ask for a discovery recount.”

Daniels, the former Republican House leader, had represented the district since 1975, winning some races in landslides or running unopposed.

Reboletti said a recount won’t affect his preparations for Springfield as “representative-elect” for the district.

“I don’t feel that I won; I did win. I’ve twice caucused with House Republicans,” Reboletti said. “I didn’t see (Vosicky) in new legislative training.”

The reason for the recount request, Vosicky said, come from questions over how and if votes recorded on computer chips were counted.

On Nov. 8, the day after the vote, DuPage County Election Commission Executive Director Robert Saar said there was a technical malfunction in tallying results from five precincts. Also, some election judges did not turn in 19 memory cards to be linked into the county’s database. Those votes were later tallied.

Vosicky has asked for 21 out of the 87 precincts to be recounted by hand.

By law, up to 25 percent of the precincts in a particular race can be examined as part of a partial recount.

Saar said Monday that DuPage has had about 40 recounts in his 25 years with the election commission.

“There are not uncommon,” he said, adding that none of the recounts he’s been involved with changed the outcome of the election.

When asked if it is possible he could win after a recount, Vosicky said, “Of course, I do.”

The actual recount has not been scheduled yet but could take place within the week.

The 46th District includes all or parts of Addison, Bensenville, Elk Grove Village, Elmhurst, Itasca, Lombard, Villa Park and Wood Dale.